Live roller conveyer



Sept. 22, 1936. w, K, T KES 2,055,053

I LIVE ROLLER CONVE YER Filed Aug. 8, 1932 4 Sheets-Sheet l Sept. 22,1936.

Filed Aug. 8, 1932 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Sept. 22, 1936. w STOKES 2,055,053

LIVE ROLLER CONVEYER Filed Aug. 8, 1952 4 sheets-sheet 4 v) 2 g Q Q N agwwntoz Patented Sept. 22, 1936 PATENT OFFICE 2,055,053 LIVE ROLLERconverse William Kenneth Stokes, Cincinnati, Ohio, assignor to TheAlvey-Ferguson Company, Cincinnati, Ohio, a corporation of OhioApplication August 8, 1932, Serial No. 627,964

22 Claims. (Cl. 198-127) This invention relates to certain improvementsin the type of conveyers whose beds are formed of live and dead loadsupporting rollers arranged in an interspersed relationship. It will beunder stood that conveyers of the type hereinbefore referred to arearranged in a substantially level position and that the load supportingrollers whether live, or dead, are mounted to have rotative movementsabout stationary horizontal axes. It will also be understood that theterm live rollers refers to those rollers which are driven by powerderived from a suitable source and act to propel the loads over the bed,and that the term dead rollers refers to rollers of non,- power nature,namely, to idler rollers which are employed as friction-reducing loadsupports between the live rollers.

One of the important purposes of the invention is to provide aconveyenor conveyer section, whose bed includes load supporting liverollers and load supporting dead rollers relatively arranged to propelarticles around a curve in an orderly fashion, that is, at a uniformspeed and hence without any liability of one of the conveyed articlesinterfering with or bumping against or being bumped by, another, evenwhen the articles being conveyed are of varying weights and sizes.

Another important purpose of the invention is to provide a conveyer, orconveyer section, whose bed includes load supporting live rollers whichderive their load propelling power from a narrow belt which passesaround the upper surfaces of the rollers in a positionin which it willbe free from engagement with the load and hence not subject to excessivewear although directly engaged with said live rollers.

A further important purpose of the invention is to provide a conveyer,or conveyer section, comprising load supporting live rollers and loadsupporting idler rollers arranged in an interspersed relationship inwhich the live rollers are driven by a narrow belt whose working runpasses around the upper surfaces of the live rollers and around theundersurfaces of guiding rollers arranged underneath the idler rollers.

Still another important purpose of the invention is to provide a curvedconveying section whose bed is composed of live and dead load supportingrollers and which section includes a driving belt which is so guided andtensioned and is so correlated with the load supporting rollers as tocause articles to be conveyed in an orderly fashion around the curve bypower applied by the belt directly to the live rollers.

Yet another important purpose of the invention is to provide a conveyercomposed of straight and curved sections relatively arranged to deliverloads from one to the other and in which the beds are formed of live anddead load supporting rollers, and in which, moreover, each sectionincludes a driving belt which applies power directly to the liverollers, said conveyer further including means for applying power to oneof said belts and means for transmitting power from the latter belt tothe other.

Other purposes of the invention will become apparent as the descriptionproceeds.

The foregoing purposes are secured from the construction illustrated inthe' accompanying drawings and which construction embodies certain novelfeatures of construction of the parts and certain novel combinations andcorrelations of elements substantially as hereinafter described andparticularly set forth in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings exemplifying preferred embodiments of theinvention and wherein similar characters of reference denotecorresponding parts in the several views:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary'plan view showing a part of a conveyercomprising straight sections and a curved section, arranged between thestraight sections;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the curved section of a conveyer on a largerscale than the preceding figure;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary plan view of a straight section of the conveyeron a larger scale than Fig. l; i

Fig. 4 is a tion;

Fig. 5 is a transverse section on the line 5-5 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 6 is a transverse section on the line 6-6 of'Fig. 3;

Fig. '7 is a fragmentary side view particularly intended to show one ofthe guiding and tensioning rollers for the working run of the drivingbelt and its position relatively to the corresponding live and deadrollers, being a view of the parts shown between 1-1 of Fig. 2, forexample;

Fig. 8 is a bottom plan view of the same parts shown in Fig. 7

Fig. 9 is a section on the line 9-9 of Fig; 2, looking in the directionof the arrow;

Fig. 10 is a section on the line Ill-I0 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 11 is a section on the line I l-ll of Fig. 2; and

Figs. 12, 13, 14, 15 and 16 are fragmentary views showing differentforms and relative arrangeside elevation of said straight secdirectly tothe goods carried.

ments of rollers which may be employed in the curved section of theconveyer in lieu of the particular form and arrangement shown in Figs. 1and 2.

Conveyers of the type to which the instant invention relates usuallycomprise one or more straight sections, as A, and one or more curvedsections, as B, variously arranged ,in operative relationship with eachother to transfer the goods along defined paths laid out in accordancewith particular requirements in given installations.

These conveyers include appropriate frames "dead roller C between eachtwo of said groups.

having longitudinal members, respectively arranged at the inner andouter sides thereof, by which the live and dead rollers, whichconjointly constitute the load supporting beds, are suppo'rted. In theaccompanying drawings the side members of the straight sections aremarked a, a and the side members of the curved ,section are marked 17, band all of said membersare preferably of angle iron formation. It willbe noticed that the outer side member I) of the curved section B, aswell as the inner side member b of said section, is characterized by anabsence of any vertical corners or angles, said outer member beingcontinuously curved throughout its length except atits ends, which arestraight or flattened to form continuations of the corresponding sidemembers of the straight conveyors between which the curved section .isarranged, and gradually merges into said straight or flattened ends. Therollers in the straight section are marked C and -0 designating the liverollers and C the dead or idler rollers. The rollers in thecurvedsection are marked D, D D and D D and D designating live rollers and Dand D designating dead or idler rollers. The live'rollers-C of thestraight section are driven by a belt E and the live rollers D and D ofthe curved section are driven by a belt F. Theserollers are allload-carrying rollers, and the live rollers C, D and D receive powerdirectly from the belts E and F and transmit the sam The straight andcurved sections of the conveyer are each provided with a series of idlerpulleys G suitably supported from the frames thereof andarranged in alower plane than the live and dead rollers. The straight section A isalso provided at its opposite ends with idler pulleys G and G and at anappropriate place in its length with a driving pulley G The endof thecurved section B at which the power which drives 'a-driving pulley G thebelt F is'arranged extends in a straight line and said curved section isprovided at its opposite ends with idler pulleys G and G and ata'suitable place in relation to its straight end portion with Otherpulleys G", G and G are provided within the curved portion of thesection B and-are respectively mounted on vertical axes and sopositioned that the pulley G will be between and out of line with thepulleys G and G I The pulleys G of both sections A and Bare engaged bythe working runs of the belts E and F. The pulleys G and G of thestraight section A are engaged by thereturning run of the belt E;

and the pulleys G G driving. pulley G and pulleys G, G and G of thecurved section B are engaged by the returning run of the belt F, whichbelt is twisted between the pulleys G and G? and again between thepulleys G and G The driving pulley, G of the straight section may bearranged in any preferred position along said section and may be engagedby either the working or returning run of the belt E, whichever isproper, according to its position.

The live rollers C of the straight section A and also the live rollersD, D of the curved section B, are preferably arranged in sets or groupsand. these sets or groups alternate with dead rollers 0 0f the straightsection and D D of the curved section. There may be one or more deadrollers, as preferred, between each two successive sets or groups oflive rollers. In the illustrated embodiment of the invention, the liverollers, C, are arranged in groups of two and there is one idler or Inthe straight portion at one end of the curved section B the liverollers, D, are shown as arrang'ed'in one group of three rollers and asecond group consisting of two rollers, and these two respectivelybetween the remaining groups of live rollers.

The working runs of the belts in both the straight and curved sectionsof the conveyer, travel over the upper surfaces of the sets or groups oflive rollers and around the undersurfaces of the pulleys G, from end toend of the respective sections. In the. illustrated embodiment theworking run of the belt E also engages the driving pulleyG The returningrun of the belt E is around the pulleys G and G and to the upper surfaceof the live roller at the receiving end of said section, where it againbecomes a working run. The returning run of the belt F en'- gages thepulleys G G G G and G in the order named, and from the last namedpulley, said belt travels upward and over the upper surfaces of thegroup of live rollers at the corresponding end of the curved section andthence downward around the undersurface of the drive pulley G and upagain to the next set or group of live rollers and thence downwardaround the corresponding pulley G, and so on.

It will be noticed that the belts E and F are of narrow width and, ashere shown, engage the live rollers at one end only of each of thelatter. It will also be noticed that each pulley G is arrangedunderneath the corresponding dead roller and that its diameter issubstantially equal to the space between the two successive groups orsets of live rollers which are separated from each other by said deadroller. Thus it will be seen that each belt in its travel from one setor group of live rollers to the next setor group in the order of itstravel moves in a substantially vertical downward path and aroundtheundersurface of the corresponding pulley G and thence in asubstantially vertical upward path to the upper surface of said next setor group or live rollers: stretching and wear of the belt is thusreduced to a minimum.

All of the rollers C and C of the straight section A' and all of therollers D and D in the straight portion of, the curved section B are ofthe same diameter from end to end and have their longitudinal axes inaparallel relationship.

Various typical forms and arrangements of rollers adapted to conveyarticles around a curved path in an orderly fashion by power applieddirectly to one end only of each live roller by an endless belt or thelike, of relatively narrow width are, shown in the accompanyingdrawings, as follows:

In Figs. 1 and 2 all of the rollers D and D in the curve of theconveying section B extend ra- .dially from the inner side member I; ofthe frame and each is of the same diameter throughout, with theexception of one live roller of each set or group of live rollers, whichhas its driving end, d, tapered; in Fig. 12 an arrangement is suggestedin which all the live rollers D and all the dead rollers D including thedriving ends III of the live rollers, are tapered throughout in the samedirection, and the longitudinal axes of the live rollers of each setorgroup are parallel with each other and in a diagonal relationship tothe longitudinal axes of the dead rollers, D between successive sets orgroups of live rollers; in

. Fig. 13 an arrangement is suggested in which each live roller has itsbody, D tapered and its driving end 29 also tapered, but in a directionthe opposite to the taper of the body D and the dead roller D betweensuccessive sets or groups of live rollers is tapered throughout in thesame direc tion, and all of theserollers, both live and dead, extendradially from the inner side member I) of the frame; Fig. 14 suggests anarrangement in which all of the live rollers have their bodies D of thesame diameter throughout and their driving ends 30 tapered, and in whichthe dead roller, D between successive sets or groups of live rollers areeach of the same diameter throughout, and all of the rollers, both liveand dead, extend radially from the inner side member b of the frame;Fig. 15 suggests an arrangement in which all live rollers have theirbodies D tapered in the same direction and the driving end ii] of one ofsaid rollers of each set or group is tapered while the driving end 4!)of the other live roller of each set or group is straight, and in whichthe dead rollers.l)* between successive sets or groups of liverollersare tapered throughout, and all of the rollers, both live anddead, extend radially from the inner side member b of the frame; Fig. 16suggests an arrangement in which each live roller, D and each deadroller, D between successive sets or groups of live rollers, is of thesame diameter throughout, and in which the live rollers of each set-orgroup have their axes parallel with each other and diagonal to the axesof the dead rollers.

It will be noticed that in. all of these various ends of each set orgroup be tapered or be nontapered or one be tapered and the othernontaperedare parallel with each other,,whereby the belt is kept in theposition upon the driving ends of the rollers in which its engagementwith said ends is most effective.

Appropriate pulleys of the sections A and B, as the pulley G of thestraight section A and the pulley G of the curved section are adjustableby suitable means to take up the slack in the corresponding belts E andF, respectively,the takeup means illustrated being preferred since theypossess important advantages.

- As shown best in Figs. 3 and 4, the pulley G is mounted on a shaft 28which is carried by a substantially U-shape bearing through whose sidearms 2! the ends of said shaft extend and said bearing is slidablymounted within an open bearing-supporting frame comprising side members22 which extend longitudinally of the conveyer and whose front and rearends are connected with each other by cross members 23. Thisbearingsupporting frame is supported by arms 24 whose upper ends arefixedly secured by any suitable means to the frame of the section-A. Theends of the shaft 26 extend through elongated open ings 25 in the sidemembers 22 of the bearingsupporting frame, and appropriate means, asnuts 25, are provided to hold the shaft and bearing and pulley againstlateral displacement. The side arms 2! of the bearing have their forwardends connected with each otherby a transversemember 21 and an adjustingbolt 28, having at its inner end a head 29 in engagement with the innersurface of said transverse member 21, extends through the same and alsothrough the forward transverse member 23 of the bearing-supporting frameand serves to adjust the bearing and the pulley G forward or rearward,as the case may be, within said frame. The b0lt'28 has threadedengagement on opposite sides of the member 23 with appropriate nuts 29'by which it, and consequently, the bearing and pulley, are held inadjusted position. This adjustment, of course, is longitudinal of thesection A. The adjustment of the pulley G in the curve section B of theframe is transverse of said section and the preferred means by whichsaid pulley is adjusted is similar in principle to that employed inrelation to the pulley G as will be seen upon reference to Fig. 10. Itwill be noticed, however, that the shaft 36, upon which said pulley G ismounted, extends vertically through the upper and lower horizontal arms3! of a bearing and also through upper and lower horizontal members 32of a bearing-supporting frame, which frame includes appropriatesupporting members 33 suitably securedto the frame of the section B. Thebearing is slidably mounted between the members 32 of thebearing-supporting frame and the shaft 30 extends at its opposite endsthrough elongated openings 34 in said members 32. An adjusting bolt 35extends through one of the supporting members 33 and through a member 36which connects the arms 31 of the bearing with each other, and said boltis provided at its inner end with a head 31 which engages the innersurface of the member 36 and with nuts 38 arranged on opposite sides ofthe member 33, said head and nuts cooperating to permit the bolt to beadjustedand in itsadjustment to impart sliding movement to the bear.-ing and pulley G within the bearing-supporting frame, and also to holdsaid pulley and itsbearing in adjusted position.

The pulleys G and G for the returning .run of the belt F, and whichpulleys, as ShOWII E-I'B respectively arranged in advance of andrearward of the adjusting pulley (3+ ,v may be nonad justabletransversely of the conveyer. An appropriate means by which each issupported is shown in Fig. 9 and includes a vertical shaft. 40 carriedby a bracket 4 l. and extending at its upper end into a socket 42 andnear its lower end through a sleeve '43. The pulley G or G is rotatablymounted on the lower end of the shaft 40, between the sleeve 43 and ahead i lfixedly held on the lower end ofthe shaft. If preferred, thehead 44 may be in the form of a nut which is adjustable upon the shaftto conveniently assure proper horizontal position of these pulleysrelatively to the other pulleys engaged with the returning run of thebelt.

In order to provide for proper alignment'of the idler pulleys G,theshafts of these pulleys are preferablymounted in bearings whichpermit the shafts to be shifted either horizontally or vertically,'ateither end independently of the other end. Figs. 7 and 8 show anadjustable mounting applied to one of said pulleys and may be duplicatedwith reference to any or all of the others. Said mounting comprises apair of inner members, 45, mounted on opposite sides of the pulley G andthrough which the ends of the shaft, 46, of said pulley extend. Theseinner members are respectively adjustably secured 'to a pair of outermembers, M, by bolts, or equivalent fastening elements. These bolts, 48,are arranged near the ends of the members 55 and extend throughhorizontally arranged slots, 49, in the outer members ll. As here shownthey also extend through vertically arranged slots 50 in the innermembers E5, and said slots 59 are disposed in an intersectingrelationship with the slots A9. Accordingly, it will be seen that eithershaft-carrying member d5 may be adjusted both vertically andhorizontally relatively to the members M. The members 41 are free fromdirect connection with the shaft d6, since said shaft 46 does not extendinto or through said members, but has indirect connection with the shaftthrough the medium of the members 85 and bolts E8. Said members Mext'encl at their opposite ends beyond the pulley G and are secured toeach other by bolts 55 and they are held in position relatively to theframe by suitable-means, as brackets 52.

. These pulleys G are preferably made of aluminum or other light weightmaterial and in practice are provided with anti-friction bearings so asto be very free running and thus add little unnecessary pull to thedriving belt.

, All of the pulleys G are flanged to form channels through which thebelts travel.

The frame of each conveyer section A, B is provided at each of its sideswith a guard as is P customary in conveyers. These may be of anysuitable constructinFigs. and 6 illustrating two typical forms.

goods will not come into contact with said belt.'

In Fig. 5 each guard'is inthe form of a plate 'or sheet whose upper endis provided with an outwardly extending flange and whose lower edgeextends to a place adjacent the upper surfaces of the load supportingrollers. One of said guards is marked 6!) and the other 65'. The guard66' is supported at intervals along its length by upwardly extendingarms 62' and the guard fill" is supported at intervals along its lengthby arms 63' which are suitably bent to position the guard 60" in suchrelation to the belt that contact of said belt with the goods conveyedwill be prevented.

As hereinbefore stated, any appropriate means for imparting power to thedriving pulleys may be resorted to. In any conveyer which includesseparate straight and curved sections, as A and 5B, for example, it ispreferred to connect the driving means with the driving pulley of onesection directly and to transmit the power from said pulley to thedriving pulley of the other section by appropriate means. Fig. 1 shows asource of power, preferably an electric motor M, connected by a chain Nwith a suitable worm or gear reduction unit 0, which transmits power toa drive shaft P, which shaft is connected to the drive pulley G3 (Fig.4) of the section A and also with the driving pulley G (Fig. 11) of thesection B, the connection between said shaft and the driving pulley Gincluding a sprocket chain Q. It is preferred, in practice, to provide acasing R, as suggested in Fig. 5, to protect driving portions of theconveyer. This casing may extend throughout any part of the length ofeither or both of said sections A and B and preferably is arranged toprotect the driving mechanism at the junction of the two sections. 1

Having thus described the invention what I believe to be new and desireto secure by Letters Patent, is:-

1. A conveyer comprising a frame including longitudinal members whichare spaced apart transversely of the conveyer and are arranged atopposite sides of the latter, a series of live and dead load supportingrollers disposed in substantially the same horizontal plane and in aninterspersed relationship, each of said rollers extend ing across theconveyer from one of said frame .members to the other and each of saidlive rollers having a driving end arranged inward of the correspondinglongitudinal frame member, idler pulleys arranged substantiallyunderneath the dead rollers, a relatively narrow flat driving belthaving travelling engagement with the upper surfaces of the driving endsof the live rollers and passing thence around the undersurfaces of saidpulleys and out of contact with the dead rollers, guards at oppositesides of the conveyer and guard supporting'arms extending upward fromthe corresponding longitudinal members of the frame, each of said armsat one side of the conveyer being bent inwardly between its ends tooverlie the driving belt engaged with the upper surfaces of the drivingends of the live rollers and the corresponding guard being secured tothe upper end portions of the latter guard supporting arms to therebyposition it inward with relation to the driving belt.

2. A conveyer comprising a load supporting bed,

a substantially flat driving belt and an idler pulley for the workingrun of the belt: said bed including a plurality of groups of loadsupporting live rollers having driving portions the outer sides of whichin each group are substantially parallel with each other and loadsupporting dead rollers between successive groups of said live rollersand whose longitudinal axis is in a non-parallel relationship with thelongitudinal axes of the live rollers of said groups; said driving beltbeing of narrow width relatively to the length of the loadsupportingrollers and travelling over and in engagement with the upper surfaces ofthe live rollers of each group and downward and in engagement with theundersurfaces of the respective idler pulleys between successive groups;and said idler pulleys being arranged relatively to the outer sides ofthe driving portions of successive groups of live rollers to cause thebelt in its travel between said groups to engage said side surfaces ofthe live rollers.

3. A curved conveyer section whose bed is formed of a series of loadsupporting rollers disposed in substantially the same horizontal plane,idler pulleys beneath said bed, a driving belt whose course of travel isupon the upper surfaces of successive groups or said load supportingrollers and underneath the lower surfaces of the idler pulleysbetweensucces'si've groups 'of said rollers and out of contact withother rollers arranged between each two of said groups, whereby saidbedis composed of groupsof live rollerswith a dead roller interposedbetween each two of said groups, said dead rollers and groups of liverollers having relatively non-parallel longitudinal axes and said liverollers of each group having driving end portions integral with thebodies thereof and whose outer sides are parallel with each other, andsaid idler pulleys being arranged to cause the belt in itstravel betweensuccessive groups of live rollers to move in substantially verticalparallel planes and to be held in engagement with said outer sides ofthe driving'portions of the live rollers. I r

4. A conveyer comprising two sections mounted end to end and operativeto deliver a load from one to theother, one of, said sections beingstraight throughout its length and the other being straight at its endadjacent the straight section and being curved in another partof itslength, said straight section and said straight part of the othersection having load supporting beds provided withinterspersed live anddead rollers whose longitudinal axes are substantially parallel witheach other and said other section having its bed provided withinterspersed live and dead rollers having parallel longitudinal axes inthe straight part thereof and interspersed live and dead rollers havingnon-parallel longitudinal axes in the curved part thereof, the liverollers of both of said sections being arranged in groups of two or moreand the dead rollers of both of said sections being arranged intermediate'successive groups of live rollers and said live and dead rollersbeing relatively positioned to cause'the load to be at all times engagedby one or more live rollers, whereby the load will not be brought to astate of rest by engagement of a dead roller therewith; relativelynarrow flat driving belts for the respective sections, each travellingdirectly across the upper surfaces of the groups of live rollers anddirectly from one roller of each group to the next roller of the samegroup and passing downward and out of contact with the dead rollersbetween successive groups of live rollers in the respective sections,guiding pulleys for the working runs of the belts, arranged beneath thedead rollers and around the undersurfaces of which said driving runs ofthe belts pass from one group of live rollers to the next, idler guidingrollers for the returning runs of the belts of the respective sections,a driving means imparting power to one of said belts and drivingconnections between said means and the belt of the next section fortransmitting power to the latter.

5. A curved conveyer section comprising a frame, a plurality of groupsor sets of live load supporting rollers extending transversely of theframe, dead load supporting rollers arranged between successive groupsor sets of live rollers, each group or set of live rollers including aroller having a tapered driving end, and a driving belt Whose workingrun directly engages the driving ends only of the successive groups orsets of live rollers and is guided to move out of contact with the deadrollers in its travel from one group or set of live rollers to the next.

6. A curved conveyer section according to claim 5, in which the live anddead rollers extend radially from one side of the frame to the other.

7. A curved conveyer section according to claim 5, in which the drivingend of only one live roller of each group or set is tapered. r

. 8. A curved conveyer section according to claim 5, in which thedriving ends of both live rollers of each group or set is tapered.

9. A curved conveyer section according to claim 5, in which the loadsupporting rollers extend radially from one side of the frame totheother and the driving ends of the rollers of each group or set aretapered.

. '10. A curved conveyer section according to claim 5, in which theouter sides of the driving ends of the live rollers of each group or setare parallel with each other. i

11. A curved conveyer section comprising a frame, a plurality of groupsor sets of live load supporting rollers extending transversely of theframe, the rollers of. each group or set having their axes arrangedparallel with each other and said groups or sets being relativelydiagonal one to another, dead load supporting rollers between successivegroups or sets of the live rollers, and a driving belt whose working rundirectly engages the driving ends only of the groupsor sets of liverollers and is guided to move out of contact with the dead rollers inits travel from one group or set of live rollers to the next. .1

12. A conveyer section comprising a frame, live and dead load supportingrollers arranged in an interspersed relationship and extendingtransversely of the frame, idler pulleys below the plane of theloadsupporting rollers, shafts upon which said idler pulleys aremounted, supporting means for said shafts, means by which either end ofthe shafts may be adjustedin up and down and lat eral'directions, tothereby correspondinglyadjust the idler pulleys, a relatively narrowendless driving belt Whose Working run directly engages the uppersurface of each live roller and passes around the undersurface of theidler pulleys in its passage between the live rollers, and guide meansfor the returning run of the belt.

13. A conveyer section comprising a frame, a bed composed of live anddead load supporting rollers arranged in an interspersed relationshiptransversely of the frame, idler pulleys mounted to have rotativemovement upon horizontal axes below said bed, adjustable supportingmeans for the idler pulleys, a relatively narrow endless driving beltwhose working run directly engages the upper surface of each live rollerand passes around the undersurfaces of the idler pulleys in its passagebetween the live rollers, and guiding means for the returning run of thebelt: said supporting means for the idler pulleys comprising innermembers in which the shafts of the pulleys are mounted, outer members,said inner and outer members having slots of which those of the innermembers are arranged in an intersecting relationship with those of theouter members, and releasable holding elements which extend through theslots in the inner and outer members.

14. A curved conveyer section comprising inner and outer supportingframe members, a load supporting bed composed of live and dead rollersextending transversely of the conveyer from one of said frame members tothe other, said live rollers being arranged in groups and each having anintegral driving end and said dead rollers being arranged betweensuccessive groups of live rollers and having their respectivelongitudinal axes in non-parallel relation with the axes of the deadrollers, idler pulleys respectively mounted underneath the dead rollerswith their lateral peripheral surfaces substantially in verticalalignment with the side surfaces of the driving ends of the end rollersof two successive groups, an endless driving belt of narrow widthrelatively to the length of the load supporting rollers and whoseworking run travels in direct driving engagement with the upper surfacesof the driving ends of the groups of live rollers and in substantiallyvertical parallel paths in direct engagement with the side surfaces ofthe driving ends of the end rollers of said groups and around theunderneath surfaces of the idler pulleys,.and means operatively relatedto the returning run of the belt to guide and tension the same.

15. A curved conveyer section according to claim 14 in which the outerside faces of the driving ends of end live rollers of each group areparallel with each other and the lateral peripheral surfaces of theidler pulleys are in vertical alignment with said side surfaces.

16. A curved conveyer section according to claim 14 in which all' of therollers extend radially from the inner frame member and the driving endof one live roller of each group is tapered.

17. A curved conveyer section according to claim 14 in which all of therollers extend radially from the inner frame member and the driving endof one live roller of each group is tapered and the driving end ofanother roller of each group is substantially cylindrical and the sidesurfaces of said driving ends of both rollers are parallel with eachother.

18. A curved conveyer section according to claim 14 in which the drivingends of the live rollers of each'groupare tapered and have their outerside faces parallel with each other.

19. A curved conveyer section according to claim 14 in which all of therollers extend radially from the inner frame'members and the drivingends of the live rollers of each group are faces parallel with rollers.

21. A conveyer comprising horizontal straight and curved sections, saidcurved section having a straight end forming a continuation of thecorresponding end of the straight section and each section havingload-supporting live and dead rollers throughout its length and alsohaving idler pulleys below its said rollers, driving belts for therespective sections, each belt having its working run directly engagedwith the upper surfaces of the live rollers and with the undersurfacesof the idler pulleys, guiding means for the returning runs of the saidbelts, means, including a driving pulley for applying power to one ofsaid belts, and means, including a driving pulley and power transmittingconnection between said pulley and the first mentioned driving pulley,for driving the belt of the curved section from the driving means forthe belt of the straight section, the live rollers of each section beingarranged in groups or sets, the dead rollers being arranged betweensuccessive groups or sets of the live rollers and the driving pulleysbeing mounted on shafts which are independent of saicllive and deadrollers and are respectively arranged underneath dead rollers adjacentto but spaced from the ends of the straight portions of the conveyer.

22. A curved conveyer section comprising inner and outer supportingframe members, live rollers arranged in groups having converging axes,idler pulleys below the live rollers, flat belt means in contact withthe idler pulleys and with a top and sides of each of two rollers in agroup, the opposite belt contacting side portions being substantiallyparallel to each other.

WILLIAM KENNETH STOKES.

